All At Once
by Kyriana42
Summary: AU. Abby dies in the Mer incident. Connor quits the ARC. When a big call comes in at the British Museum, Connor finds himself back with the ARC, the last place he wanted to be. Full Summary inside.
1. Broken

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Summary****:** Abby does not survive the Mer incident. Connor takes her death very hard and leaves the ARC. Stephen does not die during the Leek creature bunker incident. Several months following Abby's death, Stephen pays a visit to Connor, claiming that they desperately need his help on a case. Sarah Page comes on the scene and joins the ARC. Connor gets caught up in the ARC once more as he continues to struggle with Abby's death. But, can he be saved?

**A/N****: Yay! The 20****th**** fanfic just in time for my 20****th**** birthday (November 15)! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 1****: Broken**

"_The time is going to come when you say that enough is enough_

_The time is going to come when you stop beating yourself up_"

-"Broken" by Everclear

It had been eight months to the day that he lost the girl of his dreams

Eight months since Abby was killed because of the ARC.

Because of Nick Cutter.

Connor would never let it go. He couldn't. He had never even told Abby that he'd loved her.

* * *

Shortly after her body was discovered, Connor had felt his legs give out as he fell to the ground weeping. A funeral was held immediately the following day.

At the funeral, very few people had shown up. Abby's brother, Jack, Stephen, Jenny, Lester, Cutter, and himself.

However, as soon as they had finished burying Abby, Connor had snapped.

It was the day he quit the ARC.

"This—this i—i—is all your—fa—fault!" Connor had shouted at Cutter in between sobs.

"She wouldn't have had been killed if you hadn't made that call!"

"Connor, I—I'm sorry." Was all Cutter could reply.

"That's not good enough! Sorry isn't going to bring Abby back!" Connor shouted as he ran over to Cutter and punched him square in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.

Everyone was beyond shock.

Connor went to hit him again; but Stephen had managed to grab him and pull him away from Cutter.

"Not here, mate." Stephen muttered so only Connor could hear.

If Lester hadn't any self-control or public decency, Connor was almost certain that he would've pulled up a chair and asked for popcorn.

Jack had blocked everything out as he stared down at his sister's grave, staring in shock as he wept.

Cutter didn't move from the ground, grasping his jaw as he stared down in shock.

Jenny moved over to Stephen and Connor, asking that Stephen take Connor home before anything else happened. Stephen nodded as Jenny once again voiced her condolences before returning to Cutter to help him to his feet.

"I quit!" Connor shouted as Stephen guided him to the car. "Don't you ever expect me back, you bastard!"

* * *

True to his word, Connor never set foot in the ARC again. In fact, he had never even left the flat since that day.

Stephen and occasionally Jenny would turn up to check on him, but he usually turned them away.

Connor couldn't bring himself to pack away Abby's things or even go through them.

The flat had fallen into utter disarray, as the dust became thick on just about everything.

Connor ate very rarely and when Jenny or Stephen had brought food for him, he usually shared it with Rex or gave it all to Rex.

He had a bit of a beard starting to form.

He had given up shaving a few weeks ago.

His hair was slightly more interesting. About a few months after his resignation, Connor had gone into a fit and cut his hair very short to his head, so that it was slightly spiked.

He usually milled around the living room or his own room. Doing his best to avoid Abby's things.

He tried to convince himself, at one point, that Abby had left him to go live elsewhere because they'd had a row.

It fell apart when he'd call her phone, which had since been out of service.

It was the middle of the night following the eight-month anniversary of Abby's death that Connor had received a buzz at the door.

* * *

The ADD went off in the ARC.

The researchers on ADD-duty had pinpointed the origination of the anomaly to be in the British Museum.

"That's a big place." Stephen muttered.

"Yeah, well, have Becker bring extra men. Until we know what we're dealing with, it's better to be safer than sorry." Cutter announced as he loaded a gun heading toward the garage.

"Jenny," Stephen called to the young woman. "A word?"

Jenny looked at Cutter, who continued toward the garage, before she turned and quickly walked toward Stephen.

"What is it?"

"You know that we're gonna need extra help on this, besides Becker's men."

"What do you mean?" Jenny asked hoping that Stephen had an answer much different than what she was thinking.

"We need to bring Connor back."

Jenny's heart sank. "Stephen, you heard him eight months ago. He's not coming back. Just leave it. We've got work to do."

Stephen nodded as Jenny turned and followed the direction of Cutter.

"I'll catch you guys up! I'm gonna grab some extra supplies from storage!" Stephen called after her.

"Please, don't do anything stupid." Jenny muttered to herself, knowing what Stephen truly meant.

* * *

Connor lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

He had assumed that whoever was behind that god-awful knocking and buzzing would eventually get bored and just leave. But they didn't.

"Give me strength." Connor muttered as he threw himself out of bed and stomped toward the door.

"What the hell do you want?" Connor shouted as he threw open the door.

"I want to talk." Stephen said firmly.

"At three in the morning? I'm sure could've picked a better time, Stephen." Connor replied sardonically.

"Sorry, but it's kinda important. Can I come in?"

"Only if you plan on leaving afterwards." Connor answered dryly, as he stepped aside to allow Stephen to enter the flat.

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So, what did you think? Continue or not? Break's coming up soon, so I'll try to update a bit more! ^^

Please Review! ;D


	2. Return

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews! You're awesome!**

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**Chapter 2****: Return**

"_It's hard enough to know_

_That something's made us not the same_

_Did I give all I could give?_

_Or spend all I could spend in vain?_"

**-"Return" by Needtobreathe**

"What the hell do you want?" Connor shouted as he threw open the door.

"I want to talk." Stephen said firmly.

"At three in the morning? I'm sure could've picked a better time, Stephen." Connor replied sardonically.

"Sorry, but it's kinda important. Can I come in?"

"Only if you plan on leaving afterwards." Connor answered dryly, as he stepped aside to allow Stephen to enter the flat.

"This is gonna seem a bit crazy, but please hear me out. There's an anomaly at the British Museum." Stephen said immediately, choosing his words.

"You're right, that does sound crazy. Get out." Connor replied flatly, as he reopened the door.

"We need you, Connor." Stephen pleaded.

Connor laughed bitterly as he shut the door and plopped down on the couch.

"And I suppose that 'we' means 'you, Jenny, and _Cutter_'." Connor answered, venom lining his pronunciation of Cutter's name.

"Well, yeah; but Connor, you can't stay cooped up in here forever. You're going to have to leave eventually.

"Yeah, when I'm dead." Connor muttered.

"Don't talk like that." Stephen warned.

"He really needs your help on this case. This place, where the anomaly is, it's too big for just the few of us." Stephen said after a few minutes of silence.

This caused Connor to laugh even more coldly.

"Really? _He_ **needs** _me_?"

Stephen nodded, hoping that Connor would buy it and go with him to the British Museum before Cutter realized that he wasn't really getting stuff from storage for the mission.

"How thick do you think I am, Stephen?"

Stephen did speak.

"Where the hell were you when I said the words 'I quit' eight months ago?" Connor shouted.

Stephen struggled to come up with some that would convince Connor to go.

"Look, I understand your reasons for quitting. I—everyone misses her; but she wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."

Connor leapt to his feet grabbing hold of Stephen's shirt. "You don't know Abby as well as I did! She loved you and you were too busy with—other conquests to even notice!"

Stephen bit his tongue. It was true. He was too caught up in Helen to care about Abby's affections; but it was too late to do anything about it now. Besides, Connor was venting emotions that have probably been pent up for the past eight months.

"The reason I came to ask for your help is because there is a creature incursion and Jenny's in serious trouble. I need your help to get into the British Museum and help find her." Stephen spoke softly.

Connor released Stephen's shirt.

"Jenny?" He asked, concern lining his voice.

"Please Connor, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't serious." Stephen added, keeping his façade.

Connor looked as though he were thinking about it. He turned and changed his clothes and threw his shoes on.

"This is for Jenny, no one else, understand? Don't expect any outside help after this." Connor replied as he finished tying his shoes.

Stephen merely nodded as he led the way down to the truck.

* * *

Connor felt very strange as he and Stephen pulled up to the British Museum. One, because he had quit this job eight months ago and couldn't believe he agreed to return for this one anomaly. Two, he didn't really like museums, especially after getting locked in the toilet when he was eight years old in the very same museum.

Connor was snapped from his reveries as Stephen hesitantly handed him a gun.

"Only use it if absolutely necessary." Stephen spoke as they climbed out of the truck and entered the museum.

* * *

As they walked through the empty halls of the museum, Connor was starting to realize that something fishy was up. Stephen was walking way too casually for a creature incursion.

Connor started to hear soft echoes just ahead of them and the puzzle began to fall into place.

Stephen had lied to him.

Jenny was standing a few feet ahead of them talking to some military guy.

Jenny's eyes went wide with fear when she saw Connor and Stephen approach.

"Stephen." She hissed. "What have you done?"

Stephen didn't answer her.

"Well, I see that I'm not needed here." Connor blurted angrily. "Thanks for the field trip, Stephen. Now take me home."

The military guy that Connor had seen Jenny speaking to and his men pointed their guns at Connor, who instinctively raised his gun at them.

"Freeze!" He shouted.

"Who the hell are you?" Connor asked.

"I could ask you the same question." The military guy sneered.

"Lower your weapons." Jenny ordered.

Becker briefly looked at Jenny for confirmation. She nodded and they lowered their weapons.

"Becker, Connor. Connor, Becker." Stephen introduced.

"Connor Temple. The same Connor Temple, who resigned his position in the ARC—" Becker began to ask when Connor cut him off.

"The very same."

"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave." Becker responded.

"Connor?" Came an all too familiar voice.

Connor's eyes shot up, glaring at the man he blamed for Abby's demise. The only things that had changed about him were the dark circles beneath his eyes and his slightly longer hair.

"Forget the ride Stephen, I think I'll walk." Connor replied angrily as he started to walk away.

"Wait a minute," Cutter called after him.

"I've got nothing to say to you." Connor answered, not turning to face him.

"Then why did you come?"

"Because I was told that Jenny was in a life and death situation!" Connor shouted, his voice echoing through the museum.

A roar echoed back to them.

"Oh, God." Jenny muttered.

"Right, Jenny and Becker with me. Stephen, you and Connor take some of Becker's men and investigate the other end of the museum." Cutter ordered.

"Pfft. Forget it. I didn't come here for you." Connor replied icily.

"Lives could be at stake!" Cutter argued.

"This isn't _my_ job anymore!" Connor yelled as he approached Cutter.

"So, you came here to say that and to say that you couldn't give a damn about humanity?" Cutter asked angrily.

"I risked _my_ life for those people! I _lost_ one of them because of _you_! I don't need you telling me my morals!" Connor shouted as shoved Cutter and walked away angrily.

Cutter turned to Stephen, "are you behind this?"

Stephen didn't reply. Instead, he turned and followed Connor; several of Becker's men tagging behind them.

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Next chapter, Sarah Page comes into the picture! Should be up soon!

Please Review!


	3. King Of Anything

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 3****: King Of Anything**

"_Who cares if you disagree?_

_You are not me_

_Who made you king of anything?_

_So you dare tell me who to be?_

_Who died and made you king of anything?_"

**- "King of Anything" by Sara ****Bareilles**

Connor thought about making a run for it, or maybe even just casually walking away from the museum; but he had a feeling that this Becker guy had ordered his men to prevent [Connor] from leaving the premises.

"Connor—I—" Stephen began, trying to break the silence.

"Save it, Stephen." Connor cut him off. "I don't wanna hear any more lies that you plan on saying to get me to come back on the team. I'm following through on this, like I promised; and then I'm done."

"This really is too big a place for us to cover though," Stephen admitted.

Connor didn't respond.

"Look, I really did think that we needed your help and I wouldn't have come to you if I honestly didn't think you were needed on a case." Stephen continued.

"I'm touched." Connor replied dryly, flashing his flashlight suspiciously about the corridors, mummies and statues illuminated by the light.

"I know you really don't want to; but you're going to have to face everything that's happened in the past eight months eventually." Stephen spoke sternly.

Connor stopped short and spun to stare angrily at Stephen, gun slightly raised.

"I had my reasons for leaving. I have no intentions of coming back, Stephen. I'm here to help this _one_ time because of a lie _you_ told me." Connor explained, fire burning in his eyes.

Stephen glanced back and forth between the gun and Connor, as he heard the soldiers aim their guns at Connor.

"We both know you can't shoot a gun, Connor. Now, put it away before someone gets hurt." Stephen pointed out.

Connor lowered his gun, "don't be so sure that I'm the same person I was eight months ago, Stephen."

Connor turned and continued to lead the way, looking for any creatures that shouldn't be there.

* * *

"Something's bothering you," Jenny stated as she, Cutter, Becker, and some of Becker's men walked the empty museum.

"Of course there's something bothering me!" Cutter answered angrily. "Someone I let down is back."

There was no need to name Connor aloud. Jenny and Nick both knew who he was talking about.

"Maybe this is your second chance to make things up to him. Maybe you can finally redeem yourself in his eyes." Jenny proposed.

"The only way that I could redeem myself in Connor's eyes would be if I rewrote history."

"You know you can't."

"Let's just face it, he'll never forgive me and never return to the ARC."

"Sir, according to Lester's orders, any civilian, who witnesses the business of the ARC, first hand, must be briefed and sign the official secrets act." Becker pointed out.

"This is a special case, it's out of Lester's jurisdiction." Cutter answered.

"But—"Becker began.

"If Connor wants to come back after this then he can; but other than that, the option of returning to the ARC will not be forced upon him, got it?" Cutter cut him off.

* * *

Just as they rounded a corner, Stephen and Connor aimed their guns at a young woman, who came out of one of the nearby doors.

"Stay where you are." Connor ordered.

She had dark, tan skin with long dark hair to match her brown eyes. She wore tan gaucho pants with a white dress shirt and burnt orange jacket. She also donned a pair of flats on her feet.

The young woman looked both startled and terrified at the same time.

"Cutter" Stephen called to the slightly older man who was approaching them from down the hall.

Cutter and Jenny, along with Becker and the rest of his men came bolting down the hall.

Connor lowered his gun as Cutter came closer.

"Who are you?" Cutter asked calmly.

"Doctor—Doctor Page" she answered backing against the wall. "And you?"

"Nick Cutter."

"Let me—let me guess, you're thieves or something." Dr. Page spoke.

"Actually, I'm a professor." Cutter answered, continuing to lead the interrogation.

Dr. Page glanced at the gun and back at Cutter's face. "I've never seen a professor with a gun before."

Cutter glanced at the gun like it was some ordinary object, like a watch or something. "It's a—pretty specialized field."

Connor rolled his eyes and in the process, noticed an arm poking out from behind a display case and jabbed Stephen.

They walked over to the arm, causing Cutter and the other s to follow.

"Oh, God." Connor muttered.

The woman had been mauled by whatever had been stalking the museum.

"It's a creature kill." Stephen deduced, checking the dead woman for a pulse.

Dr. Page leaned in to see that she recognized the woman.

"Margret." She whispered and quickly turned around, running for an exit.

Stephen and Connor looked up to see the Dr. Page was already clear down the hall.

"Nick." Stephen called, causing him to look up and see the sight as well.

"Dr. Page!" Cutter called, as he and the others gave pursuit.

* * *

Dr. Page kept near the closest wall looking for the switch that would open the dock for her to escape. She froze when she noticed a strange light, accompanied by a strange noise.

"Hello?" She called.

Suddenly, a giant creature, that resembled the Egyptian demon Amut, came crawling over the crates in front of her, causing her to inadvertently scream.

She grabbed a nearby artifact and prepared to defend herself.

Suddenly, everything happened at once.

The loading dock opened, causing the creature to flee through the new opening, frightening the workers, while the door to the storage room burst open, allowing the strange people she'd met only a few moments ago access to the room.

"What happened?" Cutter asked.

"I just—I just saw the Amut." Was all Dr. Page could muster.

"Look, I believe you saw something; but I don't think it was Amut." Cutter replied.

"It looked just like that!" Dr. Page defended, pointing to a nearby statue.

"Right, Stephen with me; Jenny get back to the ARC and do some damage control."

The ARC?" Dr. Page asked confused.

"Not that one." Connor assured her.

"Connor you stay with Dr. Page and try to figure out where the anomaly is from and what we're up against. Becker you and your men stay here and—" Cutter continued.

"What makes you think I'm going to continue to participate in this?" Connor asked incredulously.

"Well, you would've left by now, but you haven't."

"Only because I was afraid your new friends we're gonna shoot me!"

"Look, let's just sort things out and then argue, yeah?" Stephen suggested.

"Who died and made you king of anything? Oh, I think I—" Connor began, but Jenny stopped him.

"Connor, please, not here. We'll take care of it later." Jenny pleaded.

Connor nodded.

"I'm done with all of this after this incursion is sorted." Connor stated firmly as he turned and began his work.

Cutter and Stephen fled to track the creature, while everyone else did as they were told.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Dr. Page asked, crouching down next to Connor.

"Nothing to worry about." Connor muttered as he stared up at the Sun Cage and the anomaly.

"If my safety is concerned, I think it's something to be greatly worried about." She pointed out.

"Safety's not an issue. Not in this particular case anyway, yet." Connor answered as he examined the Sun Cage.

"What do these hieroglyphs refer to, Dr. Page?" Connor asked changing the subject as he squatted down in front of the Sun Cage.

"Sarah."

"What?" Connor asked confused looking up at her.

"I'd feel a lot better about this situation if you'd call me Sarah." She smiled, crouching down next to him.

"Connor," he replied, giving a slight smile, to make her feel a bit better about the circumstances.

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	4. And So It Goes

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 4****: And So It Goes**

"_And this is why my eyes are closed_

_It's just as well for all I've seen_

_And so it goes, and so it goes_"

- "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel

"James, we have a bit of a problem." Jenny said as she waltzed into Lester's office.

"So do I, it's called Christine Johnson."

"Sorry?"

"Think Velociraptor, only better dressed. You were saying?"

"There's a creature loose in the British Museum and it's made a kill."

"What sort of creature?"

"We don't know yet. Cutter and Stephen went after it."

"Can't you look it up in your big book of dinosaurs?"

"There was an eye witness."

"Well, shoot them and dispose of the body discreetly."

Jenny gave Lester a horrified look as he fixed his tie and put on his jacket.

"Just kidding!" Lester said as he left.

Jenny hadn't told Lester about Connor. Connor had said that he had no intentions of coming back and Jenny truly wanted to believe that Stephen had tricked him into showing up at the anomaly site; but she had a feeling that Lester was going to find out eventually.

* * *

Stephen and Cutter ran down the early morning streets of London tracking a creature that they were still unsure of.

They stopped to catch their breaths.

"So, are you going to answer me?" Cutter asked out of breath.

"What?"

"Don't play games with me, Stephen. Why is Connor at the anomaly site when he made it clear eight months ago that he wanted nothing to do with the project anymore?" Cutter asked angrily.

"Because we needed him. That place is too big for the small team we now have. You never once went to visit him during the last eight months, Nick. You didn't see how he tore himself apart over Abby's death!" Stephen retorted.

"You think I haven't suffered since then?"

"Sorry." Stephen said looking down. "Look, let's just find this creature and get it back to the anomaly before it closes, yeah?"

"Sure." Cutter mumbled as he stepped around Stephen and continued in the direction that they were headed.

* * *

"I never got to finish translating this portion of the Sun Cage." Sarah admitted. "It's what I was working on when Marian sent me away. If I would have stayed, that would've been me back there, dead."

Connor winced at the word; but shook the feeling. He was going to do his best not to think of Abby during this one-time mission.

"I think that the symbol that's inside the Sun Cage there could be the anomaly." Sarah said, pulling Connor from his thoughts.

"I think I might have an idea." Connor said as he stood.

He looked around for his rucksack that he brought with him to pull out his laptop. As he opened the case and dusted off his laptop, one of the tools he carried with him floated up and cracked the Sun Cage, chipping a huge piece off of it.

"As if things weren't bad already." Connor muttered.

"Did you just damage the Sun Cage?" Sarah asked angrily.

"Nope."

"So that piece just—fell off all on its own?"

"Yep." Connor replied as he went back to what he was doing.

"Connor, the Sun Cage is _cursed_." Sarah said darkly.

"Really?" Connor said turning around.

Sarah nodded.

Connor sat down on a crate to decide how to deal with the anomaly. A vase next to him fell down and shattered on the ground.

"Tough luck." Becker commented, suppressing a smile.

"Lester and the others can worry about replacing it." Connor retorted as he stood.

"We've got to get boxes around this thing before anything else can come through." Connor ordered.

Becker and his men merely stood there staring.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Connor shouted. "No one wants to become lunch in this room I take it?"

Becker and his men, including Sarah, started to stack boxes around the Sun Cage as a few of the military men stood back, guns aimed at the anomaly.

Connor's mobile rang as they stacked the boxes.

It was Cutter.

Connor had forgotten to change his mobile number during the last eight months.

"Did you figure out what we're dealing with, yet?" Cutter asked calmly.

"No, I'll let you know when I do." Connor answered hesitantly as he hung up the phone.

"Was that Cutter?" Becker asked as he approached Connor.

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

"It's my job to make sure that no one on this job gets injured." Becker retorted.

"Then, where the hell were you eight months ago?" Connor shouted at Becker.

Connor, whose back was facing the anomaly as he shouted at Becker, didn't notice the creature that leapt out of the anomaly and grabbed him by the seat of his pants.

Connor grabbed onto the gun of the military man that was standing next to Becker. For some reason, he didn't want it to end here.

"Whatever you do, don't you dare pull that trigger." He threatened the military man, who's gun he was holding onto.

Sarah came rushing over, picking up and debating which items to chuck at the creature.

"I don't think that it's gonna care what ya clobber it with!" Connor shouted sarcastically.

Sarah picked up the artifact that she used to defend herself with earlier and whacked the creature twice, causing it to recede into the anomaly.

"I think I know what creature we're dealing with now." Connor said as he turned and typed furiously at his laptop.

He flipped open his mobile to see Cutter's number. He half-wanted to dial it; but opted for Stephen's number instead.

"Stephen, it's—"

"A Pristichampus." Stephen finished. "We know, it's made another kill and it's headed towards the Thames."

"Tell him I'm on my way." Becker cut in as he left to find Cutter and Stephen.

"Action Man's on his way there and my work here is done." Connor replied.

"Connor, wait, you can't—" Stephen said, but Connor had already hung up on him.

"What do you mean your work here is done? The—anomaly is still here!" Sarah spoke frantically, standing a few feet from Connor.

"Technically, I'm not even supposed to be here. If the higher-ups found out that I was here, I'd be in a world of trouble." Connor explained, replacing the mobile in his pocket.

The boxes were only three-quarters of the way around the Sun Cage.

"Come on, get those boxes up!" Connor repeated.

"Forklift." Sarah commented as she peered around the Sun Cage.

"That would've been more helpful earlier." Connor replied.

"I was attacked by Amut, and found out that the Sun Cage creates portals from another world, I wasn't exactly thinking 'forklift.'" Sarah defended.

Connor motioned for two of the military men to use the forklift to finish placing the boxes.

As the men were preparing the final round of boxes to completely surround the Sun Cage, another Pristichampus leapt out towards Sarah.

Connor grabbed a nearby light source and stabbed at the creature, which bit the light, shocking itself.

Connor started to have flashbacks of when he attacked a Mosasaur in a similar fashion in order to protect Abby.

He tried to shake the images from his head as the Pristichampus pulled back into the anomaly.

However, the shock of the light produced a different affect on the anomaly as the anomaly suddenly transformed into a compacted energy bubble.

Connor climbed onto the boxes to poke at the anomaly with the remainder of the lamp that the creature hadn't devoured.

The lamp wasn't sucked through. Instead, it bounced off the anomaly.

"It's never done that before." Connor mused.

The anomaly then returned to its original form as Connor jumped away from it.

"I'll have to look into it later." Connor muttered.

"Let's get the rest of those boxes up!" he ordered as the forklift came with enough boxes to fill the gap.

'What am I saying?' he mentally scolded himself. 'I'm done after this. Never coming back. Abby died because of all this. Whatever happens here has no bearing on my resignation.'

* * *

After Stephen and Becker managed to pull Cutter and the young cleaner up from over the ledge, they noticed the creature limp away as it once again entered the Thames.

"It's injured." Stephen informed Cutter. "It wants to go home."

"Then, that's bad news for Connor and Doctor Page." Cutter said as they fled from the building, back to the trucks, and toward the Museum, leaving Jenny to finish up damage control.

Stephen dialed Connor's number.

"Connor!" Stephen shouted through the phone. "The Pristichampus is injured. It's headed back to the Museum, make sure it can get to the anomaly!"

* * *

"Brilliant." Connor muttered, snapping the mobile shut.

"Quickly, get these boxes away from the anomaly!" He shouted at the men, who looked at him confusedly.

"The creature's on its way back to go home!"

* * *

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	5. Choices

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 5****: Choices**

Sarah, Connor, and the military men began moving the boxes with the forklift; but froze when they heard a roar.

"Get behind me." Connor ordered Sarah as the creature crawled toward them.

One of the soldiers tried to defend Connor and Sarah by jumping in front of them, but the Pristichampus tackled the man and devoured him.

"Doctor Page! Connor!" Cutter shouted as he, Stephen, and Becker came rushing in through the open shutter.

"Stop!" Sarah called to them, raising her hand at the group.

They froze just behind Connor and Sarah.

Becker aimed his gun at the Pristichampus, which roared at him.

"Wait." Sarah whispered. "Kneel. Everybody."

"Sorry?" Stephen asked.

"This creature is used to being shown respect and being worshipped. If we kneel, I'm thinking that it might not harm us and return through the anomaly."

"She's right." Connor said as he slowly got to his knees. "Everyone do it, now."

"Forget it." Becker retorted. "I'm not bowing."

"Get on your knees." Cutter ordered.

Becker reluctantly got on his knees, but kept his gun ready.

The Pristichampus came toward the group. It sniffed Connor, who was the closest, before roaring and entering the anomaly, which promptly closed.

Connor stood up and dusted himself off. He walked over to his rucksack and began to put everything away while Cutter and Stephen talked to Becker and the others.

"Hey," Sarah said as she walked over to Connor, whose back was to her.

"What?" He asked not turning around, as he finished packing his stuff and closed his rucksack.

"Could you turn around?"

Connor slung the rucksack over his head and turned to Sarah, who flung her arms around him. "Thank you."

"For what?" Connor asked confusedly, breaking the hug.

"You saved my life." Sarah smiled.

_Abby grabbed Connor's hand smiling as he laughed awkwardly._

_ "You saved my life." She smiled._

_ "I did, didn't I?" Connor smiled as Abby pulled him into a hug that he graciously returned._

Connor shook his head in an attempt to force the memories away.

"I need to go. I suggest you do the same." Connor said as he turned and exited the storage room.

* * *

"Where's Connor?" Cutter asked as he looked around.

"He said he had to go." Sarah answered.

"I'd like you to come with us Doctor Page." Cutter suggested as he and the others headed toward the entrance.

* * *

Connor was out of the front doors and began walking down the stairs, when he heard guns cock.

He looked up to see military men standing there. Four of them rushed toward him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked as they took the gun that Stephen had given him earlier and escorted him to one of the trucks.

Cutter, Sarah, and the others were just coming out of the British Museum, as they noticed Connor being led to one of the trucks.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sarah shouted at them. "Leave him alone!"

One of the soldiers ran up to the group.

"Why are you taking Connor?" Cutter asked angrily. "I said he only comes back if he wants to."

"Ma'am." The soldier spoke, looking at Sarah.

Sarah turned to Stephen and Cutter.

"It'll be okay. Go." Stephen replied calmly.

Sarah reluctantly followed the soldier, who guided her to the same truck that Connor was being forced to sit.

"Who ordered this?" Cutter asked angrily looking at the remaining team and military as the truck carrying Sarah and Connor drove off toward the ARC.

Cutter noticed Connor glaring at him as the truck drove away and memories of when Lester had ordered Helen's capture from the anomaly rose to mind; but he quickly diverted the memory to address the matter at hand.

No one answered.

"Who ordered this?" Cutter asked again, shouting this time.

Cutter shook his head when no one answered him a second time.

"Stephen, let's go, we need to get back to the ARC." Cutter ordered as he briskly descended the front steps of the museum.

* * *

As the truck drove toward the ARC, Connor's anger grew.

"I hope you lot know that it's illegal to kidnap citizens." Connor stated dryly.

"Lester's orders." Was all the driver responded.

"Where are we going?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"The ARC." Connor answered.

"And what about these people? Were you just in the wrong place at the wrong time, like me?" Sarah asked, her mood fading from worry to anger.

"No," Connor answered simply. "I used to work for them."

* * *

Connor and Sarah sat in Lester's office as Lester pulled their files and sat down.

Cutter, Stephen, and Jenny came bursting through the doors to Lester's office.

"I suppose knocking nowadays has completely become a foreign concept." Lester said looking up at the trio.

"You ordered this?" Cutter asked Lester angrily.

"I'm sure that you had something to do with it. Ya sent Stephen to get me and then you force me to stay and play your silly little creature game." Connor glared at Cutter.

"I had nothing to do with this." Cutter defended.

"Cutter never sent me to get you, Connor. I came on my own." Stephen added.

"Right. And I'm supposed to believe that." Connor retorted.

"I'm sure that it won't kill any of you to act like adults for the rest of this meeting." Lester chimed in.

"There is no meeting. I want to go home, right now." Connor demanded.

"I'm afraid that I can't authorize that, Connor."

"Why not?" Connor asked angrily.

Sarah sat still in the chair next to Connor, quietly watching the exchange between everyone.

"You seemed to have revoked your resignation here by showing up at an official anomaly sight and aiding in the containment and research done there." Lester explained.

"Not completely by choice." Connor muttered.

"Well, I'm afraid that the only way that you're going to get out of this predicament that you've created for yourself is to continue your work and research on the team."

"Or?" Connor asked. As if there would be another option.

"Or you go to prison."

"For what?" Sarah chimed in.

Lester shrugged her off. "So what will it be, Connor? Anomalies or jail?"

"You can't do this." Connor protested.

"Connor resigned eight months ago. It was made very clear." Cutter interjected. "He shouldn't be forced into returning if he doesn't want to.

"I don't need you to defend me." Connor spat.

"Fine, Lester. You win. I'm back on the team. Now, send me home." Connor said, venom lining his voice.

"I'll expect to see you bright and early tomorrow to resign papers, Connor. And if you're not promptly here by eight, I'll send an escort." Lester said as Connor stood.

"Whatever." Connor retorted as he left Lester's office.

"Stephen, take him home. Make sure he's alright." Cutter spoke quickly.

Stephen nodded and left to catch up to Connor.

"On to Doctor Page." Lester began as he glanced at her profile.

"What about me?" She asked.

"Well, I assume that there's something that needs to be done about you as well, seeing as you were also at the scene. We can let you go on the condition that you never breathe a word of this to anyone, or—" Lester began.

"Or you can join our team and help with the research on the anomalies."

"Can I ask a question?"

"I suppose that all depends on what the question is."

"Have these anomalies occurred throughout history? And if so, is it possible that they've been documented through creature sightings, such as the Loch Ness Monster?"

"That's two questions." Lester pointed out.

"She stays." Cutter spoke up.

"Don't I get a say?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"Of course." Cutter answered.

"I want you to help us research all of the great myths to find connections to the anomalies here at the Anomaly Research Center. Or you can go back to lecturing bored school children at the museum." Cutter explained.

Sarah looked at Jenny, Cutter, and Lester.

Was this what she wanted?

What about Connor? He had some bad blood between himself and the ARC, would that happen to her?

On the other hand, she would be in need of a new job due to the events of last night.

"Alright, I'm in." She smiled.

"Brilliant! I feel safer all ready." Lester said rolling his eyes.

* * *

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	6. Uncertainty

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 6****: Uncertainty**

"_Sometimes_

_We'd never know what's wrong without the pain_

_Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same_"

**- "All At Once" by The Fray**

Sarah had left with Jenny, who volunteered to give her the grand tour of the ARC, while Cutter stayed behind to confront Lester.

"How did you know that Connor was at the anomaly site?"

"A little bird told me." Lester replied smugly. "Really, though, what does it matter? Now that Connor's back and you have a new member of the team, all should be going well on the anomaly research that you've been stuck on."

"Connor resigned his position here after Abby Maitland was killed eight months ago. That poor kid has already lost two friends to this project, I don't know about you, but that warrants enough for a resignation." Cutter explained.

"I can assure you that no more causalities will be occurring during the rest of this project, however long that might be. The purpose of Captain Becker—"

"Is an unwanted body guard that doesn't follow any orders I give." Nick cut him off.

"Captain Becker was hired as a result of Miss Maitland's untimely death. He is here to keep the team alive whether you like it or not."

"That's not going to make it any easier on Connor by forcing him to come back and work at the ARC when he clearly stated— "

"We are all very distraught by the lost of a high-profile member like Maitland; but we all grow up. We get over it and move on with our lives. I'm sure that in time, Connor will do the same."

Cutter made a move to hit Lester, but Lester stopped him.

"Oh, and if you try and land a punch, I'll sack you so fast that your head will spin."

Cutter glared at Lester before turning and stomping out of the office.

* * *

As Stephen pulled up to Connor's flat, he tried to apologize to Connor for the umpteenth time.

"Look, Connor, I'm really sorry about how all this turned out. I didn't know Lester was going to send his men to collect you."

"I'm sure." Connor muttered.

"Get some rest."

Connor didn't answer Stephen as he opened the door.

"Call if you—need anything." Stephen offered, as Connor slammed the door in the middle of the sentence.

Stephen waited until Connor entered the flat to begin his drive back to the ARC.

He was worried about Connor.

Now that Connor had been forced to come out of retirement, Stephen feared that Connor would become a force to be reckoned with if he was as bitter as he claimed to be.

_Stephen glanced back and forth between the gun and Connor, as he heard the soldiers aim their guns at Connor._

_ "We both know you can't shoot a gun, Connor. Now, put it away before someone gets hurt." Stephen pointed out._

_ Connor lowered his gun, "don't be so sure that I'm the same person I was eight months ago, Stephen."_

Stephen was also interested to know what became of Doctor Page.

Did Lester have her arrested? Was she forced to sign the Official Secrets Act? Or had Cutter convinced Lester to allow her to join the team?

He'd find out when he returned to the ARC.

Stephen turned on the radio and turned up the volume to drown out the guilt that was washing over him as he drove.

* * *

Connor entered the flat fuming about his reinstatement to the ARC.

Obviously, his announcement at Abby's funeral eight months ago wasn't clear enough for Cutter and Lester.

Rex flew down and landed on Connor's shoulder to greet him.

"Not now, Rex." He said as he picked him up and gently set him down on the sofa. "It's been a long night."

Rex was all Connor had left to remind him of Abby. Connor felt more like his old self, how he used to be before eight months ago, when Rex was nearby.

Connor wandered into the kitchen and fed Rex before turning and wandering out into the living room.

Not that he had any business in caring, but Connor couldn't help but wonder if they'd dragged Sarah Page into the madness he was forced back into.

* * *

"Any questions?" Jenny asked at the end of the tour.

"Just one, but it doesn't pertain to the tour."

"If it's about Connor, I technically cannot say anything about it." Jenny explained.

"I just wanted to know, if he hates this place so much and I'm assuming quit, then why did he come back last night?" Sarah asked.

Jenny pulled Sarah off to the side as two researchers walked past them.

Jenny sighed. "Eight months ago, we had a creature incursion. One of the members of the team, Abby Maitland, was abducted. She later turned up dead."

Sarah covered her mouth to withhold a gasp.

"She and Connor were very close. Her death devastated him, which caused him to resign his position here eight months ago."

"Why did he come back?" Sarah asked again.

"Stephen somehow managed to convince Connor to show up at the anomaly sight."

"And Connor's anger issues with Cutter?"

Jenny's phone rang, causing her to stop. "Excuse me."

Jenny held the phone away from her ear and turned back to Sarah.

"I'm sorry, that's all I can tell you. I have to take this; but if there's anything else you need, you know where to find me." Jenny smiled before placing the mobile back to her ear and walking off down the hall.

* * *

Connor tried to get what had happened a few hours ago out of his mind, as he wandered back into the kitchen. He didn't even want to go back to the ARC.

He wanted to forget how his protecting Sarah and her thanking him had somehow reminded him of Abby.

Thoughts of how Cutter tried to defend him against Lester came through his hazy thoughts and Connor's anger grew.

Connor only wanted everyone in the ARC to leave him be after what happened to Abby; but Stephen wouldn't let him alone and had even enlisted Jenny's help several times during the past eight months to get him to try and move on with his life.

Connor put his hands on the countertop and hunched over as his mind began screaming contradicting thoughts about returning to the ARC.

Returning to work for the very project responsible for the death of the love of his life?

Returning to where he was meant to be. Where he could continue his anomaly work.

Would everyone love him at the ARC like before?

Would Abby hate him for this? For returning to the ARC?

Connor let out a scream as he shoved all of the glasses and pans off the counter and onto the floor, glass shattering everywhere.

Rex flew up into the rafters, keeping a safe distance between himself and Connor.

* * *

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	7. Thinking Of You

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 7****: Thinking of You**

"_We have to succumb to the feelings we can never face_

_I need you. I breathe you._

_I can't go through this all again._"

**-"Driven Under" by Seether**

"We have to get back out there and look for her!" Connor shouted, pointing out at the water.

Stephen and Cutter avoided eye contact.

"Why is no one doing _anything_? Stephen?" Connor shouted.

"So the girl's dead?" Lester asked as he, Leek, and Jenny approached the group.

"She's not—dead! She's not—dead! All we have to do is get back out there and we can find her!" Connor shouted, turning toward Lester, tears streaming down his face.

"Take him home." Lester ordered Jenny.

"Please, don't do this. Cutter!" Connor begged as Jenny led him away from the scene.

Some time later, Cutter had called Connor, begging for his forgiveness. Connor didn't answer him; but listened to his proposition.

"My arrogance has cost the life of a very beautiful, very smart girl; but if there's a chance that we can stop the same from happening to someone else, then we owe it to Abby. Alright, if—if you change your mind, Jenny Lewis knows where to find me." Cutter explained before hanging up.

Connor closed the phone and dropped it on the desk in front of his as he starred out the window.

"I shouldn't have fought with her about Caroline." Connor muttered to himself, as a tear fell down his face.

A slight hope rose in his heart at the thought that Abby could possibly still be alive. He jumped to his feet, grabbed the car keys and phoned Jenny for the location of where Cutter was.

On the car drive there, Connor practiced his apologies and how he would tell Abby his feelings and how everything would get better between them. Connor was in near ecstasy at the thought of seeing Abby again and making things better between them.

However, as Connor drove up to the scene where Jenny had told him Cutter was, the smile was gone. The ecstasy replaced with worry.

There were ambulances and government vehicles surrounding the building he needed to enter.

"Relax, it's probably just back-up." He muttered to himself as approached the building.

As Connor came to the entrance, he saw medics taking out a boy on a stretcher, who was in hysterics, screaming about walrus monsters.

Connor turned and continued into the building. He passed Jenny Lewis, who was on her mobile.

"Hold on." She said to whomever she was talking to.

"Connor," she called to him. "Connor, you can't go in there."

Connor broke out into a run, looking for any sign of Abby, ignoring Jenny.

He passed several military as he moved deeper into the building. They were muttering something like "what a shame" and "so horrible."

Connor heart pounded against his chest as he walked through the entryway where the military men were exiting.

He stopped in the entryway, looking around. He saw Cutter and Stephen standing by the anomaly, aiming guns at it.

Connor walked into the vast room, his legs like lead weights; the remaining military men looking at him, then averting their eyes to the ground.

As Connor approached the anomaly, where Cutter and Stephen stood, he felt his heart tense and beat painfully hard against his chest.

He saw Stephen and Cutter suddenly bend down and lift something out of the water from the divers. He saw Stephen's hands fly to his mouth as he turned away. Connor saw Cutter's head droop, staring at the ground.

That was when Stephen noticed him.

Connor was so unbearably close.

"Connor—I—we," Stephen stuttered.

Connor moved closer.

At that moment, Connor felt his world crash down. He felt lost and cold. His heart shattered into billions of pieces, blowing away in the wind.

He fell to the ground and cradled Abby's dead body, rocking back and forth as he cried.

"Wake up. Please, Abby. Wake up. I'm sorry I fought with ya." He cried.

His words did nothing as she remained lifeless in his arms.

* * *

Connor shot awake sweating.

A hand flew up to rub his eyes and he realized that he's been crying in his sleep again.

He'd been having the recurring dream about Abby's death since it had happened eight months ago.

Connor ran his hands down his face before ripping the covers off and climbing out of bed. He shivered involuntarily. It was either freezing in the flat or it was the sweat that Connor woke up with.

He ignored the clock as he wandered out of his room to check the thermostat before entering the bathroom to shower.

* * *

When he got out of the shower sometime later, he heard the doorbell.

"Rush to get dressed? Or answer the door in a towel?" He asked himself as he wandered to the door.

The doorbell rang at least two more times before Connor reached the door.

He opened the door, revealing Jenny Lewis holding a brown paper bag.

Connor left the door as he turned and started to walk back towards the stairs.

Jenny took notice of Connor answering the door in nothing but a towel and did her best not to stare.

He had become slimmer in the eight months that he was gone from the ARC, but he had also become a bit more muscular. His wet hair matted to his head. He still donned the short beard that he had developed in his time away as well.

"Stay out of my kitchen, Jenny." Connor called to her, snapping her from her thoughts.

Jenny turned and shut the door before moving further into the flat.

"Connor, do you have any idea what time it is?" Jenny called.

No answer.

Connor didn't bother to look at the clock for the second time today as he pulled on a pair of red jeans, a long-sleeved orange shirt with a blue t-shirt stamped with a band logo. He looked at his lucky scarf that lay on his bedside table. He didn't believe in luck anymore. Not after what happened to Abby and definitely not after last night when Lester forced him back onto the team. He pulled on his boots and headed downstairs to find out what Jenny wanted.

* * *

Jenny wandered into the kitchen to find out why Connor didn't want her in there.

She didn't have to go very far into the kitchen as she noticed the cause of Connor's present irritation about the kitchen.

There was broken glass, presumably glass cups, and pans strewn in a large pile on the kitchen floor.

Jenny bent down as she examined the glass more carefully. There appeared to be some sort of dried substance on it.

"I thought I said to stay out of the kitchen." Connor spoke, causing Jenny to jump as she spun around to face him.

She gave him a once over, now that he was fully dressed.

She noticed one of his hands was bandaged rather poorly.

"Connor, what—what happened?" She asked, slightly freighted.

"I dropped something last night." He replied blankly.

"What about your hand?"

"I tried to pick up the glass and cut my hand. I'm fine, Jenny, stop fussing." Connor snapped.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Not really." He replied flatly.

"It's nearly nine. You were supposed to be at the ARC an hour ago."

"So Lester sent you to fetch me?" Connor laughed coldly.

"Basically. Look, I brought you some breakfast, because I thought you might be hungry. You can eat on the way to the ARC." Jenny explained handing him the bag.

"Oh no, I'm driving myself. I'm not getting stranded somewhere again without my own transportation home." Connor shook his head.

"Fine. As long as we both show up at the same time." Jenny said as she walked around him.

"Let's go." She called.

"The ARC's not going anywhere." Connor said as he sat down at the table and fished through the bag.

"Please don't make me have to bring you to the ARC by force, Connor."

"Are you threatening me?" Connor asked incredulously.

"We're friends, Connor. We shouldn't have to act like this. You need to come now for both our sakes." Jenny pleaded.

Connor stood and walked past Jenny and out of the flat, thoughts of Abby and his nightmares floating in his head, as his anger grew.

"_We have to succumb to_

_the feelings we can never face I need you._

_I breathe you. I can't go through this…_"

**-"Driven Under" by Seether**

* * *

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	8. Torn

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 8****: Torn**

"_A part of me says to think it through  
A part of me says I'm over you  
A part of me wants to say goodbye  
A part of me is asking why?_"

**- "Torn" by Letoya Luckett**

Connor finished signing the papers and forced himself to resist the urge to throw them back at Lester.

"You know, if you hadn't shown up at the anomaly site, I wouldn't be forced to do this." Lester commented.

"If that was supposed to be an attempt at sympathy, you can keep it to yourself, Lester. I don't want anyone's sympathy or pity."

"Actually, it was more or less sympathy for myself. You have no idea how much paperwork I have to fill out now on top of the normal load."

Connor hadn't bothered to hear the rest of Lester's pathetic cover story. He merely stood and wandered out of Lester's office, walking slowly down the ramp.

Connor ran through his mind what had happened upon his arrival at the ARC about an hour ago.

They had barely gotten through the doors when Jenny and two soldiers had forced him towards the Medical Bay.

"What the hell are you doing?" He'd protested.

"Getting a medical professional to look at your hand and fix it up. No arguments, Connor." Jenny replied sternly as they'd entered the Medical Bay.

His hand was raw, caked in drying blood; and still bleeding slightly. The doctor looked at him befuddled.

"How'd this happen?"

"Mission." Connor stated.

"Broken glass." Jenny said at the same time.

Connor glared at her, angry when she smiled back.

"It's a pretty deep gash." The doctor stated. "I'll clean it up and I'll have to stitch it as well."

Connor's hand had started to bleed more prominently as it was cleaned; but to Jenny's shock, he hadn't flinched a bit.

He ended up with 12 stitches in the palm of his hand, which was wrapped in gauze to keep the wound clean.

After his hand was fixed, Jenny escorted him to Lester's office and left to go do something else.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Stephen asked.

"No, I'm making the whole thing up. Would you like to see the forged paperwork for that I made in my spare time as well, Stephen?" Jenny asked cynically.

"How'd it happen?"

"Hell if I know." Jenny threw up her arms. "I went to get him this morning and he was in the worst mood imaginable. He didn't want me in the kitchen."

"And you went in anyway?" Stephen shook his head.

"When people say not to do something, especially in his case, you have no choice but to do it."

Stephen scoffed, "and to think you'd have learned your lesson by now."

"I did the right thing. His hand was cut deeply, and I made sure that it was taken care of. That's my job."

Stephen sipped his coffee. "Your job is to create cover stories."

"Tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing."

"Done what?" Cutter asked, entering the lounge, where Stephen and Jenny were talking.

"Nothing." Jenny said shooting Stephen a look that said 'keep your mouth shut.'

"I've got a load of paperwork to do and reports to go over. I'll see you later." Jenny said with a smile as she turned and left.

"What was that all about?" Cutter asked, as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Nothing, she's just worried about Connor, today being his first day back and all." Stephen said before taking a long sip of coffee.

"Oh, I'd forgotten about that." Cutter replied distantly, staring at his coffee.

* * *

Connor wandered down the distantly familiar halls of the ARC. Everything seemed a lot more "spacious," for lack of a better word. The whole world had seemed that way since Abby had passed on. Even if he did go back out on the anomaly missions again, it wouldn't be the same without Abby. Connor was about to turn the corner to continue to reacquaint himself with the building, when he heard someone call after him.

"Oh, hey, it's you!"

Connor turned to see Dr. Sarah Page, the young woman from the anomaly site poking her head out a door.

"I see they drafted you as well, Dr. Page." Connor greeted flatly.

Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. "Most people usually say 'hi Sarah, lovely day, isn't it?'"

"Well then I apologize; but it's not exactly a 'great day' for me." Connor answered.

Sarah looked as though she were thinking about something before grabbing Connor's sleeve.

"What are you doing?" Connor asked angrily.

"I know something that might cheer you up." Sarah smiled as she pulled him into the room she was working in.

Connor wrenched out of Sarah's grasp before looking up and glancing at a large sculpture-like creation stood in the middle of the room, taking up much of the space.

It looked as a bunch of flexible, metal poles of various shapes and sizes decided to have a go at the game Twister.

"What is that?" Connor asked, slightly amused as he moved closer to examine it.

There were tags here and there on each pole that weaved in and out of the others, indicating dates, times, and creatures.

"Is this a timeline?" he asked, glancing at a tag that indicated an appearance of a Smilodon.

"For anomalies." Sarah smiled.

"Huh." Connor smirked.

"You smiled!" Sarah grinned.

"No I didn't." Connor's smirk disappeared.

"Yes, you did." Sarah objected.

Connor gave Sarah a sideways glare.

"Oh, come on, tell me this isn't cool, Connor!" Sarah encouraged.

"It's—impressive. I'll give you that." Connor answered, keeping his facial expressions in check.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Depends."

"Why do you hate this place so much?"

"Because—it—this place might seem great at first, but in the end, it ruins your life."

"What happened?" Sarah pressed, trying to choose her words carefully.

"It's not something I feel obligated to talk about." Connor retorted dryly.

"Well, if you—if you ever need anyone to talk to—I'm a good listener." Sarah offered.

"How did you get mixed up in this? What was the catch they offered you, Sarah?"

Just as Sarah was about to answer, Cutter came walking into the room, rolling his sleeves up.

"Sarah, I've got some new data to enter into—the Matrix." Cutter hesitated on the last words as he looked up to notice Connor.

Neither said a word as Connor stepped around Cutter and left the room.

Sarah glanced between the doorway where Connor had just departed through and Cutter, who was staring out in the hallway.

"Should I—should I go talk to him?" Sarah offered.

"Let him go, we've got theories to test with the new data." Cutter shook his head turning back to the Matrix.

* * *

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	9. Whataya Want From Me

**Disclaimer: Don't Own. Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 9****: Whataya Want From Me**

Connor walked down the hallway, absently playing with the gauze covering the gash on his hand that he wasn't supposed to be touching. He couldn't help it though. Whatever the doctor in the medical bay had put on the gash, it was creating an irritating itch.

_"Is this a timeline?" he asked, glancing at a tag that indicated an appearance of a Smilodon._

_"For anomalies." Sarah smiled._

_"Huh." Connor smirked._

_"You smiled!" Sarah grinned._

_"No I didn't." Connor's smirk disappeared._

_"Yes, you did." Sarah objected._

Connor gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe that Cutter would be so bold as to pull another civilian into the anomaly project, especially after what had happened to Abby.

Connor shook his head. He needed to keep his emotions in check. He couldn't afford to let the others get to him. He needed something to take his mind off of things. Maybe some target practice at the armory would make him feel a bit better and help him ignore the itch in his hand.

* * *

Sarah looked at Cutter as he set to putting the new data into the Matrix.

"What happened to his hand?" She asked about Connor, gesturing with her thumb to the doorway.

"Hm?" Cutter asked looking up.

"Connor's hand," Sarah spoke. "His hand was wrapped in gauze."

"I didn't see anything, Sarah." Cutter responded, his eyes on the Matrix.

In truth, he had noticed Connor's injured hand, but thought it better not to ask about it. Connor still clearly hated him and blamed him for what happened to Abby. Any words between them would only spark conflict.

Sarah crossed her arms. "It was plain as day."

Cutter didn't say anything, hoping that Sarah would drop the topic.

"Is there something that happened between the two of you?" Sarah asked stepping closer to the Matrix.

"I think we've just made our first prediction." Cutter said excitedly, ignoring Sarah's question.

* * *

As Connor wandered toward the armory, he paused just before turning around the corner when he heard Stephen and Jenny talking.

"So, when are you going to tell Nick?" Stephen asked pointedly.

"He doesn't need to know. It's none of his business." Jenny replied sternly.

"He's going to find out eventually."

"He'll find out about Becker telling Lester about Connor before he finds out about us, Stephen."

Connor raised an eyebrow, as he listened to the conversation. Now, he knew who to blame for his being back at the ARC; but he also now had the element of blackmail on his side for insurance purposes.

"I just feel like maybe we should tell him. I hate feeling like we're hiding something." Stephen noted, his hands on his hips.

"It's not a crime to be happy, Stephen. We're not having an affair. This is a straight and steady relationship." Jenny retorted.

"It's a secret is what it is, Jenny."

"If we tell Cutter, he'll be crushed. He's still getting used to Connor being on the team again. If we're going to tell him, then I say we wait until the tension has died down." Jenny explained.

"Fine, deal." Stephen relented.

Connor peered around the corner to see the pair kiss. He felt like he'd been punched in the gut. The happiness that Stephen and Jenny secretly shared was something that Connor often dreamt he might've had with Abby, had that horrible day never happened.

Connor turned and quickly turned down another hallway in the opposite direction of the armory and his coworkers.

* * *

Sarah had volunteered to go off and find the team to tell them to come to the Main Operations Room for the announcement of the prediction.

She hadn't waited for Cutter's approval, rushing out of the office before he could finish processing her offer.

She thought to look in the Main Operations Room before searching the rest of the ARC. Becker was already there, going over what Sarah presumed were past reports.

She'd only have to round up Stephen, Jenny, and Connor.

* * *

As she searched down the hallways for the three missing members, she started to think about how drastically her life had changed over the course of the past few days.

She'd gone from teaching and slightly terrifying small children of the wonders of Ancient Egypt and researching and decoding the Sun Cage to working for a secret government agency researching rips in time and hunting dinosaurs.

Life had a funny way of working out sometimes; but there were still things that puzzled and frustrated her at the ARC. Things like the obvious tension between Connor and Cutter—well, Connor and everyone that had anything to do with the ARC; but mostly the troubled waters between Connor and Cutter.

Jenny had been kind enough to fill in some of the blanks, but not enough for Sarah to fully understand the situations that existed prior to her joining the team.

As she turned a corner, she ran into Jenny.

Jenny jumped, surprised.

"Sarah, you startled me."

"Sorry," Sarah apologized. "Cutter said to round everyone up in the Main Operations Room, there's an important announcement."

"What sort of an announcement?" Jenny asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not allowed to say just yet." Sarah replied.

"Right, I'll go and get Stephen. Everyone else is already there, right?"

"Becker and Professor Cutter, I just have to find Connor." Sarah explained.

"Just a forewarning, he's not in the best of moods, Sarah." Jenny warned before leaving to find Stephen.

Sarah stood in the hallway for a moment, before going off in search of Connor. She'd seen him smile earlier today. Surely, he wasn't in _that_ bad a mood. Then again, he did seem angry when Cutter had entered the office, before storming out.

* * *

As Connor wandered around the ARC, he started to wonder if his office, as well as Abby's office, was still around, untouched.

He broke into a brisk walk toward where Abby's office, which was closer to his current location in the ARC, used to be, in hopes that something reminding him of her would be there.

As he reached the door, he hesitantly placed a hand on the doorknob. He wasn't sure if he was ready to face what was on the other side of the door just yet.

"There you are." Sarah's voice called from round the corner, as she came into the hallway.

"Here I am." Connor replied dryly.

"Come on, there's something you need to see—hear, in the Main Operations Room." Sarah spoke excitedly, as she absently grabbed his injured hand.

Connor angrily jerked away his hand.

"I'm sorry." Sarah quickly apologized. "I—I didn't realize—"

"Forget it." Connor mumbled, as he stepped around her, walking reluctantly toward the Main Operations Room.

* * *

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	10. Well Enough Alone

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 10****: Well Enough Alone**

"_I'm fine in the fire_

_I feed on the friction_

_I'm right where I should be_

_Don't try and fix me._"

**-"Fix Me" by 10 Years**

Connor walked towards the Main Operations Room.

So close.

He wasn't mad about the fact that Sarah had accidentally touched his messed up hand so much as he was that she had touched his hand. She didn't know him, didn't know why he hated the ARC or anything. Yet, she was willing to be nice to him and try to hold his hand and tug him to some staff meeting in the Main Operations Room.

His hand was starting to bother him again. The itch was beginning to become unbearable; but he did his best to ignore it as he entered to the Main Operations Room.

* * *

Sarah walked behind Connor, keeping her distance.

She hadn't meant to grab his injured hand. She could still feel the soft bandages against her fingertips.

Sarah's plan was to cheer Connor up by getting him excited about the reveal and include him since he wasn't exactly on friendly terms with the others at the moment.

Connor had seemed so interested and excited about the Matrix earlier; but perhaps there was something behind the door he was staring at before she'd found him.

Sarah saw Connor enter the Main Operations Room and she waited a few moments before taking a deep breath and entering the room.

* * *

Everyone was carrying light conversation, when Connor entered the room and the chatter died down.

"Don't let my presence interrupt you." Connor glared. "By all means, do continue."

"Where's Sarah?" Cutter asked looking around.

"Right here." Sarah forced a smile as she entered the room.

"What's the big news, Nick?" Jenny asked, leaning next to a desk by Stephen.

"After a couple of sleepless nights and some help from Dr. Page. I think that we may have made our first prediction for when the next anomaly will open up." Cutter explained.

"Predicted?" Stephen asked.

"That Matrix is a—"

"Timeline." Connor cut Nick off. "Isn't that right, _Professor_?"

Cutter stared at Connor for a second before continuing.

"It's a timeline of anomalies; but it's nowhere near complete."

"Then, how do you know an anomaly is going to open soon?" Becker inquired, looking up from the reports he was reading.

"I think the better question is _when_?" Stephen asked, shooting a look to Becker.

"Sometime in the next few days." Sarah answered.

Connor started scratching at his hand again, not glancing down to avert attention. His throat felt like it was drying up and his breathing seemed somewhat labored.

He suddenly found himself having issues paying attention to what everyone was saying.

"We'll need someone to go and check out the sight where the anomaly will presumably appear." Cutter spoke.

"Is that what the ADD is for? To alert us when an anomaly appears?" Stephen asked.

Connor couldn't take it anymore. He felt like he the walls were closing in.

He quickly sauntered out of the Main Operations Room toward an outside balcony.

"Maybe I just need some fresh air." He muttered to himself as he rushed down the hall.

* * *

"What's wrongwith Temple?" Becker raised an eyebrow.

"Probably just needs his space." Stephen suggested.

"No, I don't think that's it." Sarah interjected. "He was scratching at his hand before he stormed out."

"He—he had a gash earlier today, an accident, but the medic had a look at it and took care of it." Jenny explained.

"I'll go check on him." Sarah volunteered.

"Let him go. He's probably headed back out to the medical bay." Cutter said hesitantly.

"I'm going anyway." Sarah said before leaving the room to find Connor.

Cutter looked back to the others, who waited for some sort of response.

"We'll continue this later." He said before leaving as well.

* * *

Connor stood on the balcony taking deep, gaping breaths of air. None of it really helping much. He scratched at the bandage before giving up and tearing off the bandages and tossing them in the nearby trash bin.

His hand was beat red, swollen, and covered in hives everywhere.

"Great." He cursed under his breath.

* * *

Sarah moved quickly down the hallway looking for Connor. She ran into a soldier, who explained that he'd seen Connor heading toward one of the balconies just down the hall to the right.

As she turned the Connor, she saw Connor coughing and scratching at his hand and dashed towards him.

* * *

Connor was so occupied with his hand that he hadn't noticed Sarah Page enter through the glass doors onto the balcony overlooking the parking lot.

"Are you allergic to any medications?" Sarah asked, stepping towards him.

"Possibly." Connor muttered, looking up.

"I think you are. That's a pretty bad allergic reaction on your right hand." She pointed out.

"It not my fault that the damn medic didn't check my file before Jenny forced him to stitch up my hand." Connor growled, scratching at his hand.

"You're not exactly helping yourself by scratching." Sarah said as she grabbed his left hand and pulled it away.

Connor struggled against her.

"You need to get to the medical bay before it gets worse and you're hospitalized." Sarah cautioned, not letting his hand go.

"I'll do it later." He struggled, managing to get his hand free.

"You're going to go right now." Sarah replied sternly, catching his hand in both of hers.

"Stop acting like such a kid." Sarah ordered, dragging Connor down the hallway.

"You don't know me. Why does it even matter?" Connor asked coldly, now allowing Sarah to drag him toward the medical bay.

"Because you're injured and in need of medical attention."

"I've been injured before. I'll live."

"If you're allergic enough and keep scratching you might not."

"Great! Then, maybe I'll finally be rid of the ARC!" Connor shouted.

Sarah stopped and turned to slap him.

"You shouldn't talk like that." Sarah spoke softly.

"I don't need anyone to look out for me. I can do it well enough on my own." Connor stated, anger seeping into his voice.

"Yeah, you do, Connor. Now, I'm asking you nicely, please go in there and tell them what's wrong."

"Or else what?"

"Or I'll call security." Sarah threatened.

"You're just like them, do you know that?" Connor glared before turning and entering the medical bay, leaving a stunned Sarah in his wake.

* * *

More on Cutter, Jenny, and Stephen next chap!

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	11. Someone Who Cares

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 11****: Someone Who Cares**

"Well, you're one lucky man. It's only a mild allergic reaction." The medic explained.

"I wouldn't call myself lucky." Connor muttered.

Connor had scratched at his hand so violently, that he had managed to rip out a few stitches, prick two of his fingers on the stitches and scratch his hand raw from the rash.

Fortunately for Connor, it was a different medic this time. The medic re-cleaned the wound and fixed the stitching Connor had ripped out. He also applied a cream to relieve the rash and itching, before rewrapping Connor's hand.

"Here you go." The medic said, handing Connor two pills and a glass of water.

"What's this?" Connor asked hesitantly.

"It'll help with the allergic reaction and help regulate your breathing again."

Connor took the pills and downed the water.

"Now what?"

"Well, you have two choices. One, you can head back to your work, or you can head home. My suggestion is the latter, considering a side-effect of those pills is drowsiness."

Connor nodded before standing up and heading toward the exit.

"You might want to have someone drive you home, just in case." The medic cautioned.

"Yeah, sure." Connor called over his shoulder.

He had no intention of letting anyone drive him home.

* * *

Jenny followed Stephen back to his office.

"Well, that went—well." Jenny sighed, taking a seat opposite Stephen.

"Having Connor back on the team is going to be more of a challenge than we thought. He's got a lot on his plate to overcome." Stephen stated, sitting down in his chair.

"He's really seems to hate everyone on the team."

"Probably not as much as he's going to hate Becker when he finds out he was the one, who ratted him out to Lester."

Jenny nodded. "We'll worry about that road when we come to it. Should we go and check on Connor? He seemed like he was about to get sick."

"Sarah said she would take care of him. Besides, I doubt he'd tell any of us if something was wrong."

Jenny smiled. "She really seems to care about him."

Stephen shot Jenny a look.

"Not that I'm saying no one else does!" Jenny added.

"She doesn't know him. Not as well, as you, Lester, Cutter, and I do, anyway." Stephen pointed out.

"When has that ever stopped people from fancying each other?" Jenny raised an eyebrow.

Stephen cleared his throat. "So, plans for our six month anniversary?"

* * *

Cutter sat at his desk, tapping a pencil and twirling it between index and middle finger.

This was not going well.

Everything had fallen apart since Abby Maitland's death, for everyone.

Cutter had dismissed Connor from the anomaly project in its earlier days, but brought him back on. Then, when his friend was killed because of a parasite that came under the guise of a sick Dodo bird, Connor tried to quit; and Cutter had talked him out of it.

It was only after he'd made that foolish call to keep his suspicions of the Mer sounds between him, Abby, and Connor, that he'd actually been the cause behind Abby being kidnapped by the creatures, resulting in her death.

Cutter had driven Connor to quitting; and now, Connor was back and apparently at war with anyone and everyone.

Doctor Page seemed to get through to him though. She seemed to get Connor to look twice at the Matrix.

She had gone after him, when he'd fled the Main Operations Room earlier; something Cutter felt he should have done.

He thought about Abby's death everyday. He went over every detail trying to come up with some plausible way that he could have prevented Abby's death.

Apart from swallowing his pride and sharing his theory with the others, he'd failed as a leader.

Not long after Abby's death and Connor's resignation, they had to deal with Leek's mutiny and attempt at genocide, resulting in yet another death; Leek's.

* * *

"I think I should go and talk to Cutter." Jenny spoke, interrupting the planning of her and Stephen's six-month anniversary.

"Nick's in no mood to be talking to anyone." Stephen stated. "He'll probably—bite your head off the second you walk through his office door. Trust me."

"I'm used to dealing with angry people; it's part of my job."

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Stephen smirked.

Jenny leaned over and kissed Stephen on the cheek. "I'll consider myself warned then. Don't you owe Lester a report?"

"Turned it in this morning."

"Right, he must've been referring to another Stephen Hart, this morning then." Jenny said with a smile before leaving the office.

* * *

On her way to Cutter's office, her mobile rang.

It was Sarah Page.

"Hello?"

"Slow down, Sarah. I'll be right there with Becker and Stephen." Jenny said quickly, before hanging up and running back to Stephen's office.

"Back so soon?" Stephen smiled as Jenny swung the door open.

"What's wrong?" He asked immediately after noticing Jenny's distressed look.

"We need to get Becker and meet Sarah in the parking garage; it's Connor."

* * *

Sarah hadn't seen Connor come out of the medical bay, so she'd taken it upon herself to enter the medical bay and question Connor's whereabouts.

"He left here quarter of an hour ago. I suggested he go home, because the medication I gave him will cause him to get tired." The medic explained.

"I don't think he's gone home." Sarah commented. "At least, I haven't seen him leave, yet."

"I'm sorry, that's all I know." The medic explained.

Sarah turned and left the medical bay to find the building security.

"Can I help you?" One of Becker's men asked as Sarah approached.

"Um, yeah. Professor Cutter was looking Connor Temple. We can't seem to find him anywhere." Sarah lied, trying to remain calm.

If Connor had left with medication in his system that could cause him to fall asleep, he could be in a lot of danger.

The soldier checked the time ledger.

"Temple left the building quarter of an hour ago, but his car never left the lot."

"Where's his car parked?"

"Level 1, Row 3, Column 4. Third car in."

Not far from the door.

"Okay, thank you." Sarah said before hurrying out of the building toward Connor's car.

* * *

Sarah came upon a blue, mini coupe with a white roof.

"Connor?" She called, as she slowly approached.

No reply.

As she stepped around the car parked next to Connor's car, she noticed the driver door partially opened; the car keys on the ground outside the car.

Sarah moved closer and saw Connor passed out, his head resting on the steering wheel, his arms lying at his side, limp.

She quickly checked his pulse. It was normal, he was still alive; but she couldn't leave him here.

She called Jenny for help.

* * *

More soon!

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	12. Thoughts Of An Apology

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 12****: Thoughts Of An Apology**

"_Do you know where your heart is?_

_Do you think you can find it?_

_Or did you trade it for something?_

_Somewhere?_

_Better just to have it?_"

**-"Say (All I Need)" by OneRepublic**

"Is he going to be alright?" Sarah asked, watching as Stephen and Becker carefully pulled Connor from the driver seat and placing him in the back seat.

"He'll be fine." Stephen assured her. "He just needs to sleep it off."

"Right, Sarah, I need you to come with me and point out the medic that saw Connor earlier." Jenny said, turning to Doctor Page.

Sarah nodded. "Okay."

"Becker and I will take Connor home. Have fun with Lester." Stephen smirked at Jenny.

"I'll be sure to tell James that the report you owe him will be on his desk by the end of the day." Jenny shot Stephen a wry smile.

The smirk faded from Stephen's face. "See you later, then."

As Sarah and Jenny left to return inside the ARC, Stephen looked to Becker.

"Follow me in one of the trucks."

"Why? Wouldn't it just be easier if we dropped Temple off at home and returned here with the vehicle?" Becker questioned.

"This is Connor's car. In fact, he'd probably freak out if he found out any of us drove it. We'll take him home, leave his car there and return in one of the trucks." Stephen explained, before picking up the car keys that were still lying on the ground.

Becker nodded before heading to grab a set of spare keys to one of the trucks.

* * *

"I swear on my medical license that I didn't know those pills would kick in quite so quickly! Those are new pain pills we just got in a couple weeks ago." The medic that had seen Connor earlier defended.

"I think your medical license might actually pay the price for the life you put in danger," Jenny spoke sternly.

"But he's alright, yes?"

"At the moment." Sarah answered.

"Then, no harm done?" The medic asked.

"He could have _died_." Jenny raised her voice slightly.

Sarah felt a sinking feeling at Jenny's words. Somehow, the thought of Connor being killed frightened her, despite the fact that she barely knew the guy.

The medic stuttered.

"He could have been driving when the pills kicked in and crashed." Jenny added.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. And, in my defense, I did suggest to him to have someone drive him home. I assumed that he did."

Jenny turned to Sarah and shared a look before turning back to the medic, smiling.

"I think there's something for all of us to get out of this little misunderstanding."

"I'll do anything." The medic begged.

"I want full reports on anything and everything that has to do with Connor and the medical bay from this day forward. In return, I will forget this ever happened." Jenny held out her hand for the medic to shake.

"Deal." He spoke, shaking Jenny's hand.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you." Jenny smiled before she and Sarah departed the medical bay.

* * *

"Do you do that on anomaly sites as well?" Sarah asked curiously.

"What?"

"You know, bully people into seeing things your way."

"I'd like to think of it as a swaying of opinion in favor of the ARC."

"So then, everything's taken care of? The medic's been debriefed and Connor's been taken home."

"Not quite." Jenny replied, as they walked down the corridor. "We've still got to talk to Cutter and James."

* * *

Connor rolled about in bed before groggily opening his eyes. He glanced around. He was in his bedroom and it was nighttime.

Perhaps it was all a dream?

He glanced at his right hand. It was wrapped in gaze and he could still feel the gash in the palm of his hand. No such luck.

He was having another livid dream about eight months ago. About when he forced Caroline out of his life following Abby's death.

_Caroline had come to see him a few hours after he'd been escorted home from the scene._

_"Connor? Connor, are you here?" She asked cheerily, unaware of what had happened._

_She'd found him sitting at the little island table in the kitchen, his head in his hands._

_He wasn't making any sounds apart from breathing heavily. He'd completely spent the water in his tear ducts._

_"Connor, is—is everything alright?" She asked._

_He didn't answer her, he just wanted to be on his own right now._

_"I—Maybe I could get you something?" Caroline stumbled._

_"No." Connor had muttered._

_"What's wrong?" she asked concerned._

_"I think you should leave, Caroline." He spoke, anger and frustration bottling up._

_"Would you like me to come round later, then? See how you're doing ?" She said, hopefully._

_"It's over, Caroline; just get out." He mumbled against his hands, not looking up._

_"What do you mean 'it's over'?" She asked, thinking it was a joke._

_"Where's Abby?" She asked when he didn't immediately answer._

_Connor wanted to laugh. He knew the pair of them hated each other. The hatred between them had sparked the unresolved fight between him and Abby that he'd never get the chance to apologize for._

_"Is this a joke? It's a joke, isn't it?" Caroline asked, worry lining her voice._

_She was starting to get on his nerves, he just wanted her to leave._

_"Connor, I—"_

_He couldn't take it anymore._

_"She's dead, Caroline! We're through, don't ever come back here again!" He shouted cutting her off._

_"Dead? What—what happened—" Caroline asked, gobsmacked._

_"Get out of my flat, Caroline!" He screamed._

_Tears sprung in Caroline's eyes before she turned and left the flat, slamming the door behind her._

_That was the first night Connor got himself drunk._

* * *

Connor stood, shaking the still fresh memories from his mind as a new mystery came to mind.

How did he get home? How'd he end up in bed and where were his shoes?

The last thing he remembered was taking those pills the medic gave him and heading towards his car to leave. Connor was fairly certain that he hadn't left the ARC parking garage, as his head felt a bit sore where he was sure he'd whacked it off the steering wheel when he passed out.

He wandered out of his bedroom, down the hallway and towards the kitchen. He was dying of thirst.

The kitchen looked seemingly brand new.

The broken, bloody, glass mess had been cleaned and new replacements adorned the island table.

"Jenny must've had someone sneak into my flat after we left this morning." Connor said aloud to himself.

He strolled over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice. As he poured some into a glass sitting on the table, Connor noticed a note resting near the edge, addressed to him.

_I guess you're probably wondering how the hell you ended up in your flat as you read this note. You were found unconscious in your car in the parking garage. Don't worry, the keys are on the nightstand and the car is in one piece just outside._

Connor rushed to the kitchen window to peer outside to make sure the blue coupe was still there. After seeing the car in one piece, he returned to the note.

_Jenny took care of all the technicalities. If you want, you can be offered medical leave as compensation for the after-effects of the pills the medic gave you. There are no secrets, so I think it's best you know that none of us would have known you were unconscious when we did if it wasn't for Sarah._

_If you decided to take medical leave, call or text one of us before tomorrow morning._

_-Stephen._

"Huh." Connor spoke, before sipping his glass of orange juice.

Perhaps he had an apology he needed to start working on.

* * *

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	13. Remember

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**A/N: Sorry for the slow updates, I've got a new job and the hours are up in the air from start to finish; but I'll do my best to update regularly. **

* * *

**Chapter 13****: Remember**

It had been a couple of weeks since the episode in the car park. Connor had returned to work, a few days after the incident; but continued to isolate himself from the others.

He had been turning an idea over in his head since the night in the museum when the anomaly had sealed itself. An electrical charge strong enough, sent to an anomaly could reverse the polarity and cause the anomaly to seal. Connor had devised a plan to build something that could lock the anomalies to keep the creatures from coming through.

He'd been working on it mostly at home and sneaking the blueprints in and out of the ARC without anyone noticing.

He didn't want to share anything until he was absolutely certain it would work. He wanted to prevent what had happened to Abby from happening to anyone else.

Connor glanced warily at the calendar on his desk; the whole month had been planned out ages ago. Long before he'd quit. Today was a day that should have been a joyous one.

The small box for today's date on the desk calendar was decorated with doodles of stars, asterisks, and exclamation points declaring today to be Abby's 23rd birthday.

Connor jumped slightly, having been shaken from his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" He asked, quickly hiding the papers in his desk as the door opened.

Sarah opened the door and poked her head in. "Hey, thought you could use some coffee?"

"Oh, it's you." Connor spoke, shutting his drawer.

"You've shut yourself up in here and don't really come out much at all." Sarah spoke, walking in, as she set the cup of coffee in front of Connor.

"I've been…busy."

"With what?"

"Classified." Connor mumbled glancing at the clock.

Sarah glanced at the clock as well before glancing back at Connor. "Is there somewhere you need to be?"

"Yeah, actually." Connor said standing up, grabbing his jacket.

"Then, I'll leave you to it." Sarah replied, standing as she turned to walk out.

"Thanks," Connor muttered, just loud enough so Sarah caught it.

"For what?" Sarah asked turning around.

"For letting someone know about what happened in the car park a few weeks ago."

"No problem." Sarah smiled, before leaving the office.

Connor put his jacket on and grabbed the coffee out of habit. He pulled the papers he hid in his desk out and tucked them under his arm before leaving his office.

* * *

Sarah hid around the corner and watched as Connor left. He dropped something but didn't seem to notice as he kept walking.

Sarah made sure he was far enough away before she darted over to his door and then moved closer to examine the papers he'd dropped.

"You dropped this!" She whispered after Connor.

Watching Connor continue to walk away and down another corridor, she shrugged. "At least I can say that I called to him saying he dropped it."

Sarah scooped up the papers and looked over them as she walked away.

* * *

Cutter was sat in his office going over some theories and predictions to possibly add to the Matrix. The first prediction had come true, like he thought it would.

Cutter had been working for three days straight and felt the sudden need to check his calendar as to what date it was.

Cutter swallowed hard. Abby's birthday. He made a mental note to pick up some flowers later and visit her grave to pay his respects.

There was a knock at the door, and without waiting for an answer, Sarah came entering Cutter's office.

"I've got something absolutely brilliant to share with you." She beamed. "Connor's come up with it. I think it's some sort of locking mechanism for the anomalies."

"What?" Cutter asked curiously.

Sarah handed him the papers.

Cutter skimmed through the papers, a grin coming across his face.

"He shared this with you?"

Sarah paused. "He sort of—dropped it—on his way out; and I picked it up."

"So he knows nothing about this?" Cutter asked, waving the papers.

"Not really. But I was going to talk to him about maybe putting this into action; this could solve some issues with creature incursion. Just give me a chance to talk to him." Sarah pleaded her case.

Cutter sighed. "Alright, but today, may not be the perfect day to talk to him."

"Why not? I mean, he already left, I know; but is there something else I should know?"

Cutter took a deep breath and sat on the edge of his desk. "Abby Maitland was Connor's best friend, the pair of them were very close and after everything that's happened in the past eight to nine months since her—passing. Connor's not handled things very well."

"Which is why he doesn't get along with everyone here." Sarah stated.

Cutter merely nodded. "Today is Abby's birthday."

Sarah felt terrible. "I see."

* * *

As Connor neared the cemetery, he changed the channel on the radio, having gotten bored with the music that had become background noise. He paused for a moment when he heard the strangely familiar lyrics of a Skillet song play:

_I remembered your birthday  
They said it'd bring some closure to say your name  
I know I'd do it all different if I had the chance  
But all I got are these roses to give  
And they can't help me make amends_

Connor shut the radio of as his entered the cemetery and pulled up to the section of the cemetery where Abby was buried. He turned the car off and stepped out of the car. He was wearing his Sunday best and carried a dozen roses with him.

Connor walked with an unsure briskness. It had been some time since he'd been here.

Connor kneeled down in front of Abby's grave and cleaned away some of the leaves and cut grass that was in the way and ever so gently set the dozen roses down.

"Hey, Abs. It's me, Connor." He spoke quietly, looking down at the grave.

"I know I haven't been coming as much as I've promised, but it's been hard. I miss ya."

Connor smiled, biting back tears. "Rex's doing brilliant. He sends his regards and said to tell ya he misses ya like crazy."

Connor shifted, ignoring the sleeping feeling in his legs. "I'm back at the ARC; I'm trying to work on some things to prevent anything bad from happening to anyone else."

Connor gave a small laugh. "You'd be proud o' me, Abs. I just wish you could see it. It's the best thing I've built since the detector and—"

He cleared his throat. "I'm bragging, sorry. There's just so much going on right now and after these last eight months, I needed to get it off me chest."

"Anyways, I came to say Happy Birthday, Abby!" Connor spoke, putting quiet emphasis on the last part.

"I know how much ya liked flowers, so I thought I'd bring ya some roses." He smiled, gesturing to the flowers.

Connor thought he heard something nearby, but ignored it. "I'll be back soon, yeah?"

Connor stood, and gave another small smile. "See you soon, Abby."

* * *

As Connor made his way back to the car, he stopped when he heard voice.

"Hello, Connor."

Connor spun around and aimed a gun at Helen.

"No need for firearms. I only came to talk."

"Right." Connor spat.

Helen cocked her head to the side. "Does Nick know you carry around a gun, now?"

"I don't see how it's _any_ of _your_ business." He sneered.

"If I recall, I didn't cause anyone's death."

"Tom." Connor stated dryly.

"He shouldn't have taken the Dodo. He caused his own demise."

Connor gritted his teeth. "Is there a purpose to you following me? Because I won't hesitate to shoot you if you keep taunting me."

Helen smirked. "If you were going to shoot me, Connor, you'd have done so long ago. I have a proposition for you."

"Forget it; I'm not cutting deals with you."

"How would you like to the chance to save Abby?"

* * *

Sorry for the cliffy! And I know that Skillet's "Lucy" didn't come out until after the fact, but it's been stuck in my head and strongly influenced this chapter, so I had to include it, lol.

Please Review! ;D


	14. Sick Cycle Carousel

**Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue!**** ;D**

**Chapter 14****: Sick Cycle Carousel**

"_I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited_

_But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it_

_I had hoped you'd see my face,_

_And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over_"

**-"Someone Like You" by Adele**

Connor arrived back at his flat sometime after sunset. He didn't let his thoughts drift. All he wanted was to crawl into his bed and let sleep overtake him. Today was more than he needed to deal with; more than he usually dealt with.

The last person he expected to encounter today was Helen.

What was she playing at? Messing with time was probably one of the worst things that anyone could do. Then again, she, Cutter, and Captain Ryan had created their own past.

'That was inadvertently.' He thought to himself.

As he walked up the stairs to his flat, Connor felt like he'd become a strangely different person; changed more drastically than before.

Connor stopped when he reached the front door. Sarah was sitting on the ground, her head against the door.

She turned her head in his direction and smiled. "Hi, you, um, you dropped this on your way out."

Sarah reached into her messenger bag and pulled out blueprints and other miscellaneous papers.

"Thought you might like them." She spoke, standing and holding them out to Connor.

Connor hesitantly took them from her, glancing between the papers and Sarah.

"I think it's a brilliant idea that could save lives." Sarah nodded.

"You looked through it?"

"I didn't want to leave it where you dropped it and I didn't want to attempt to slide it under your front door and rip the pages." Sarah shrugged. "Like I said, I thought you might like to have them back."

Connor nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem."

There was an awkward silence.

"You look tired, I should probably let you go about your business and head home myself." Sarah spoke, breaking the silence, as she slowly backed down the stairs.

"Wait." Connor stopped her.

"Yeah?"

"I don't understand."

Sarah gave him a puzzled look.

"You don't know me well enough. So, why are you going through all this trouble to look out for me?" He clarified.

Sarah's expression softened. "Because I know what it's like to lose someone close to you and because you look like you need a friend."

Connor was taken aback, but put up his front again. "I'm well enough on my own."

"I've noticed." Sarah replied dryly.

Sarah shook her head, "Sorry, I'll—I'll see you tomorrow."

She quickly turned and made her way to her car and left without glancing back.

Connor stood dumbfounded for a moment before turning and entering his flat.

* * *

Cutter had lost track of time and hadn't managed to make it to the cemetery until around sunset. He carried a small bouquet of assorted flowers and a small torch to light the way.

He reached Abby's grave and noticed the dozen roses from Connor.

He placed the small bouquet next to the roses.

"Happy birthday, Abby." Cutter greeted quietly.

The wind blew causing a slight chill.

"I'm undeniably sorry for what happened. If I could go back and change things, I would. I would've taken your place instead. Connor's become a completely different person."

Cutter was quiet for a moment. "He's right to blame me. It's my fault this happened to you. And while I know saying this over and over when I come to visit won't change a thing, I'd like to think that somehow it'll help me find a way to mend things with Connor, because I know how important it was to you and everyone."

An owl hooted somewhere nearby and Cutter looked about as if in a daze.

"I'm so sorry." He mumbled.

"Happy birthday, Abby." Cuter nodded as he stood and took his leave.

* * *

Connor sat down at the kitchen table with a bottle and a small glass. He wanted, needed a numbness that would make him forget today; forget the past three-quarters of the year.

A numbness that was more than he lived day to day with. Something that he first discovered nine months ago on the night of Abby's death.

After three glasses, Connor was developing a taste for the alcoholic beverage. Rex stayed high up in the rafters watching cautiously, as he seemed to recall the last time this had happened.

Connor had consumed over two-thirds of the bottle before he felt a dizzying feeling overcome him. Anything else was merely a blur, as he slipped from the stool and onto the floor in a drunken stupor.

* * *

Connor entered the ARC the next morning donning sunglasses.

Luckily, he'd managed to avoid nearly everyone. His head was pounding and he had half a mind this morning to call in sick; but he had to finish his blueprints and whatnot.

He entered his office and went straight to the desk before attempting to work on the blueprints. He kept the lights off, his desk lamp the only light in the room. He started to doze off and found his face getting closer and closer to the desk.

"Maybe…just…a…few..." Connor yawned.

"Minutes." He mumbled, resting his head, face down on his arms.

* * *

Sarah walked briskly to Connor's office. She had great news to share.

She knocked on the door several times but received no answer and invited herself in.

"It's pitch dark in here." She whispered, noting the desk lamp must've burned out.

Sarah turned on the overhead lights and walked over to Connor's desk. The poor guy was fast asleep, resting his head on his arms.

Sarah set the coffee down in front of him.

"Connor." She spoke quietly.

No response.

"Connor." Sarah spoke again, this time more loudly as she gently shook him.

Connor stirred and lifted his head groggily. "Hm?"

Sarah wanted to laugh at how odd he looked with his short hair messed up in all different directions as he subconsciously wiped the drool from his face before snapping out of it and quickly cupping his hands over the puddle of drool he produced on the desk.

"What time is it?" He asked rubbing his eyes.

"It's six in the evening." Sarah responded. "Have you been asleep this whole time?"

"Of course not," Connor retorted. "I rested my eyes for a few moments."

"Right." Sarah answered sarcastically with a nod.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, I brought you some coffee and some brilliant news." She spoke excitedly.

"What?"

"Your project has been approved by Lester." Sarah beamed.

* * *

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